18. Philip Melancthon
JH Merle d’Aubigné
While Luther was still afraid of being compelled to appear at Rome, an unexpected event brought consolation to his heart. He needed a friend to whom he could pour out his sorrows, and whose faithful affection would comfort him in times of dejection. God gave him such a friend in Melancthon.
1This is a further abridged extract from d’Aubigné’s The History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, vol 1, continued from last month. That article included Luther’s thoughts about the Pope in 1518. Luther’s eyes still needed to be opened further so that he might see that the corruption of the papal system went to the very top. The Pope was now taking steps to oppose Luther; he was in serious danger.
George Schwartzerd was a skilful master-armourer in the small town of Bretten. On 14 February 1497, his wife bore him a son, who was named Philip; he afterwards became famous under the name of Melancthon. George, who was highly esteemed by various princes, was a man of great integrity. Frequently he would refuse from purchasers the price they offered him; and if he found they were poor, would compel them to take back their money. It was his habit to leave his bed at midnight and offer a fervent prayer upon his knees. If the morning came without having done so, he was dissatisfied with himself all the rest of the day.
Philip was only 10 when his father died. Two days before he expired, George called his son to his bedside and exhorted him to have the fear of God constantly before his eyes. “I foresee,” he said, “that terrible tempests are about to shake the world. I have witnessed great things, but greater still are preparing. May God direct and guide you!”
The lad’s grandfather performed a father’s duty to Philip, and took him and his brother George into his own house. Shortly after this he engaged John Hungarus to teach the boys. The tutor was an excellent man and later proclaimed the gospel with great energy. He punished the young man for every fault, but with discretion. “It is thus,” said Melancthon in 1554, “that he made a scholar of me. He loved me as a son, I loved him as a father; and we shall meet, I hope, in heaven.”
Philip was remarkable for the excellence of his ability to learn and to explain what he had learned. He could not remain idle and was always looking for someone to discuss with him the things he had heard. With strength of genius he united great gentleness, and thus won the favour of all. On his grandfather’s death, the youthful Philip and his brother were sent to school at Pforzheim. Eager in the pursuit of knowledge, Philip made rapid progress in learning, particularly in Greek, of which he was passionately fond.
Melancthon went to the University of Heidelberg at the age of 12, and here he began to slake his ardent thirst for knowledge. He took his bachelor’s degree at 14. The Holy Scriptures especially engaged his attention. Those who frequented the church of Tubingen had remarked that he frequently held a book in his hands, which he was occupied in reading between the services. This unknown volume appeared larger than the prayer books, and a report was circulated that Philip used to read heathen authors during those intervals. But the suspected book proved to be a copy of the Holy Scriptures, printed shortly before at Basle. All his life he continued this study with the most unceasing application. He always carried this precious volume with him. Rejecting the empty systems of the schoolmen,2 he adhered to the plain word of the gospel. Nevertheless, Melancthon shared in the errors of his age. “I shudder,” he observed at an advanced period of his life, “when I think of the honour I paid to images, while I was yet a papist.”
In 1514, he was made doctor of philosophy and then began to teach; he was 17. The charm that he imparted to his lessons, formed a most striking contrast to the tasteless method which the schoolmen and, above all, the monks had pursued till then. Agreeable in conversation, elegant in his manners, beloved by all who knew him, he soon acquired great authority and a solid reputation in the learned world. It was at this time that the Elector Frederick decided to invite some distinguished scholar to the University of Wittenberg, as professor of ancient languages. Melancthon was recommended to Frederick, who foresaw the celebrity that this young man would confer on an institution so dear to him.
In this invitation Melancthon acknowledged a call from God. At his departure the university was filled with sorrow; yet it contained individuals who were jealous of him. He left his native place exclaiming, “The Lord’s will be done!” He was then 21. Melancthon arrived in Wittenberg on 25 August 1518, two days after Pope Leo X had signed the letter to the elector.3
The first impression Melancthon made on the Wittenberg professors did not correspond with their expectations. They saw a young man who appeared younger than he really was, of small stature, and timid. Neither Luther, whom he first got to know, nor his colleagues entertained any great hopes of him when they saw his youth, his shyness, and his diffidence. On August 29, four days after his arrival, he delivered his first lecture. All the university was assembled. This lad, as Luther calls him, spoke such elegant Latin and showed so much learning and so sound a judgement that all his hearers were struck with admiration.
When the speech was finished, all crowded round him with congratulations, but no one felt more joy than Luther. He hastened to impart to his friends the sentiments that filled his heart. “Melancthon”, he wrote to Spalatin, “delivered, four days after his arrival, so learned and so beautiful a discourse that everyone listened with astonishment and admiration. We soon recovered from the prejudices excited by his stature and appearance; we now praise and admire his eloquence…. But I fear that his delicate frame will be unable to support our mode of living, and that we shall be unable to keep him long on account of the smallness of his salary.”
Melancthon began immediately to lecture on the Epistle of Paul to Titus. He was full of ardour. “I will make every effort”, he wrote to Spalatin, “to conciliate the favour of all those in Wittemberg who love learning and virtue.”
2Teachers of philosophy and theology at European universities in the Middle Ages.
3See the previous article.
Four days after his inauguration, Luther wrote again to Spalatin: “I most particularly recommend to you the very learned and very amiable Grecian, Philip. His lecture room is always full. All the theologians in particular go to hear him. He is making every class – upper, lower and middle – begin to read Greek.”
Melancthon responded to Luther’s affection. He soon found in him a kindness of disposition, a strength of mind, a courage, a discretion, that he had never found in any man. He venerated him. “If there is anyone,” he said, “whom I dearly love, and whom I embrace with my whole heart, it is Martin Luther.” Thus Luther and Melancthon met; they were friends until death. We cannot too much admire the goodness and wisdom of God in bringing together two men so different, and yet so necessary, to one another. Luther possessed warmth, vigour and strength; Melancthon clearness, discretion, and mildness. Luther gave energy to Melancthon, Melancthon moderated Luther. If Luther had been without Melancthon, perhaps the torrent would have overflowed its banks; Melancthon, when Luther was taken from him by death, hesitated and gave way, even where he should not have yielded. Luther did much by power; Melancthon perhaps did no less by following a gentler method. Both were upright, open-hearted, generous; both ardently loved the Word of eternal life and obeyed it with a fidelity and devotion that governed their whole lives.
Melancthon’s arrival at Wittenberg effected a revolution not only in that university, but in the whole of Germany. The mild spirit of the gospel animated his meditations, and in his lectures the driest pursuits were clothed with a surpassing grace that captivated his hearers. A new manner of teaching and of studying began with Melancthon. “Thanks to him,” says an illustrious German historian, “Wittenberg became the school of the nation.”
It was indeed highly important that a man who knew Greek thoroughly should teach in that university, where the new developments of theology called upon masters and pupils to study in their original language the earliest documents of the Christian faith. From this time Luther zealously applied himself to the task. The meaning of a Greek word, of which he had been ignorant until then, suddenly cleared up his theological ideas. What consolation and what joy he felt when he saw, for instance, that a Greek word which, according to the Roman Church, signifies a penance – a satisfaction required by the Church, a human expiation – really meant a transformation or conversion of the heart! A thick mist suddenly rolled away from his eyes. The two significations given to this word suffice of themselves to characterise the two Churches.
The impulse Melancthon gave to Luther in the translation of the Bible is one of the most remarkable circumstances of the friendship between these great men. As early as 1517, Luther had made some attempts at translation. He had procured as many Greek and Latin books as were within his reach. And now, with the aid of Philip, he applied himself to his task with fresh energy. Luther compelled Melancthon to share in his researches; consulted him on the difficult passages. And the work, which was destined to be one of Luther’s great labours, advanced more safely and more speedily.
Melancthon became acquainted with the new theology. The beautiful and profound doctrine of justification by faith filled him with astonishment and joy; but he received with independence the system taught by Luther and moulded it to the particular form of his mind. Although he was only 21, he was one of those precocious geniuses who attain early to a full possession of all their powers, and who think for themselves from the very first.